A baby javelina at the Desert Photo Retreat near Tucson, Arizona.
I have been really busy modifying the photo blinds and getting ready for the season, so I haven’t had time for photography yet – However, I couldn’t resist grabbing a photo of this cute little guy. Our javelina group has two little ones so far this year.
Mountain lion, Desert Photo Retreat, near Tucson, Arizona.
Well we had a crazy couple of days. First a snow storm on the drive to Anchorage with cars off the road all over the place. Then an all night flight to Phoenix. Lyft to our storage unit where we had a car that wouldn’t start, a flat tire, and broken jacks on our trailer. Long story short, everything worked out well and we are now on the property at the Desert Photo Retreat.
This summer was dry in Arizona with a lack of monsoon rains. When we checked on the property in October, I knew we would be right back, so I decided I had enough water storage that I could double the amount that flowed into the waterhole each day, that way the water hole never went dry. Well, thanks to the drought, that had huge results!
We picked up a few new regular species, including a mountain lion that at times came twice a night! Plus, a ring-tailed cat became a new regular, as did a spotted skunk, so now we see three species of skunks. The gray fox still visited nightly. The javelina were still regulars, and coyotes became a new regular. Bobcats were a infrequent visitor, but fun to see. Deer were regulars, that is until a mountain began showing up, then no more deer! At least two species of skunk also show each night. The activity has been incredible, that is until the rain arrived, and then I must say it dropped off. We should have a bunch more rain this week. But, the good news is, as soon as it dries out, most of these animals will be back!
Here is just one night, the times represent when the animal arrived. Most stayed for a few minutes at least. The night of November 2, 2019:
On Friday night before my presentation we visited the Maxwell Wildlife Refuge, near McPherson, Kansas. It was a wonderful, unexpected surprise, and so great to see bison on undisturbed Great Prairie land! This is home to one of the few surviving wild buffalo herds.
Here is another one from the amazing aurora show I witnessed in the Brooks Range just over a month ago. I have been asked about the long term aurora cycle, and yes, it is true that we are at the bottom of the 12 year aurora cycle and activity will probably be down this year. However, despite what some people may think, you can still have amazing shows even at the bottom of the 12 year cycle! This was with my Olympus E-M1X and 8mm f/ 1.8.
I have been busy this last week updating some of my presentations for my Kansas trip coming up this week – it has been a fun trip down memory road as I pull images – this one is nearly 10 years old. To think, if this bear is still alive, it is now in it prime and much, much larger!
I have received many questions at to why I made the switch from Canon, which I have been using for over 20 years, to Olympus and the E-M1X. And, just what are the advantages of the Olympus system. It is a long answer, so instead of typing it all up, I thought it would be easier to answer in the video you see above. Let me know if you have more questions!
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